The Boys in the Blue Box
by thedoctorslittlegirl
Summary: On one of his boring trips to TimeS Square, the Doctor runs into a young man who catches his attention not just because of the alien tracking device on his shoulder. The Doctor is determined to show Atlas that he doesn't have to settle for a boring life, and who knows maybe Atlas might teach the Doctor something as well.
1. Chapter 1

Ah New York. The lights and signs trying to get him to buy otherwise useless things as the people rushed through the streets and each person they knocked over saved them five minutes. It was a beautiful city if people just stopped to look at it one and a while. But then again, it was human nature because although he has all the time in the world, you would think these people who could be hit by a car as the crossed the street or shot down in a dark alleyway would stop to smell the flowers at least.

Thank Gallifrey, the Doctor wasn't human.

He didn't get a chance to even feel someone knock him over before he was on his back. He cursed as he tried to get up and fell backwards again. Everyone around him seemed to ignore the crazy man laying out on his back on the sidewalk by stepping over him or walking around him.

"Damn humans." He mumbled as he tried to get up a third time.

"Are you alright there, sir?" A voice said, causing him to look up. He saw a hand outstretched and he took it, pulling himself upward toward the kind human.

He felt the human pull him away from the sidewalk as the Doctor turned back he laughed at the crowd that resembled a school of fish. He didn't notice til he turned back that the human was brushing off his jacket for him. The Doctor took this chance to really look at the boy standing before him.

If any human had looked at him, they would of thought the boy was just at the end of his teens but the Doctor had a sight for these kind of things and knew he couldn't be any older than sixteen. He had hair that was black as coal that hung over his forehead, a little curls falling on the side. His hazel green eyes sat a little lower on his face than the Doctor would have guessed.

He stood fairly tall, maybe about 5'9 or so. He had a blue t-shirt on with dark blue rings around where the sleeves ended and the head hole was and over that he had a blue jean jacket and his jeans matched it. He looked like the average teenage boy minus the acne. "Thank you, for helping me."

"If you're not important to them, then they'll run you over. That's why we overlooked people got to stick together." The boy laughed, taking a leaf off the Doctor's shoulder.

"I've never met a person who wasn't important." The Doctor said.

"Well now you have." The boy said, patting his shoulder.

"But-" The Doctor said.

"Hey I've got to run, but you try to stay on your feet alright?" The boy said, raising his eyebrow before merging back into the giant crowd of people. That's when the Doctor noticed it, there was something on the boy's shoulder. It was flashing bright red. Catching up to him, he grabbed hold of his shoulders from behind leaning his head to whisper in his ear.

"I can't explain right now, but you're going to turn around and follow me. Got that?" The Doctor whispered, and when the boy nodded he turned the boy by pushing his shoulders, and then laughed really loud.

"Come on sport, let's go get a cup of coffee." The Doctor mustered his best New York accent, although it sounded a bit more like he was from Boston, but who cared. He felt something following them, as they turned down the alleyway.

"Now, you want to tell me what's going on?" The boy asked.

"What's your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Atlas." He replied, looking oddly at him.

"Well Atlas, prepare to have your world rocked." The Doctor said, impressed with how well that line worked. He had just spotted his blue box, and looked around before opening  
the door. He pushed the boy in first, and then shut the doors tightly behind him.

"What is this place?" Atlas asked, looking up and around him.

"This is the TARDIS. Now, how about we see about getting that tracking device off you." The Doctor said, reaching down into his pocket before pulling out his sonic screwdriver. With a few clicks, the thing unlatched itself from his jacket and fell into the Doctor's hand.

"Tracking device? Why would anyone want to track me?" Atlas asked, looking at the piece of fabric on his jacket where the tracking device had just been moments ago.

"That's a very good question." The Doctor said, bringing it over towards his control center. He didn't pay attention to the boy as he walked around the room, tracing his hand across the metal railing or scanned his eyes over the things that hung from the ceiling. Some of them, the Doctor didn't even use, they were just decoration.

"What's that?" Atlas asked as the Doctor started poking at the device.

"This? This is my sonic screwdriver." The Doctor said, waving it a little in the air.

"What's it do?" Atlas asked.

"Everything. Well almost everything." The Doctor shrugged, poking the device again. Atlas walked around to look at all the parts of the control center, brushing his hand underneath it gently.

"What are these buttons for?" Atlas asked and the Doctor sighed.

Turning to the boy in his midst, he smiled lightly. The boy's hand gracefully traced over each button without putting any pressure on it in case he accidentally pressed one, his mouth hung slightly agape, and his eyes traced over every inch once, twice, and then a third time like he was trying to perfectly remember each little detail.

"Well, that's going to take forever. What do you say we go somewhere in the meantime?" The Doctor said, and the boy's brows seemed to almost connect in it a curly wave.

"Like to lunch?" Atlas asked.

"Are you hungry, I'm a little hungry. Hm, what about-oh no you got any allergies?" The Doctor asked.

"Bees." Atlas shrugged.

"Well that cancels out that option. Oh you know what there's this cute little place on Mars, oh its adorable." The Doctor said, turning to the steering controls.

"Like the planet?" Atlas asked.

"Well certainly not like the god. I don't think he'd let us eat on him, all though he was always a bit odd." The Doctor said, scrubbing his chin a little as he saw the his eyes light up.

"You can go to Mars?" Atlas asked, stepping forward with an excited look on his face. The Doctor turned to see the familiar impressed look in the hazel eyes. He smiled, grabbing hold on the lever as he typed in the coordinates.

"Hold on." The Doctor winked, pulling it quickly as the boy gripped hold of the control panel. His hands slipped though and as they stopped, he looked down to see him facing upward on the ground. The Doctor lifted him upwards, pulling him into the side room with the space suits. Handing him one of the smallest sizes, he instructed him to put it on.

As the Doctor turned around he smiled at the sight of the teenage trying helplessly to get the suit on. Reaching over he showed him how to put it on, and the boy smiled. "You never even told me your name."

"They call me the Doctor." The Doctor smiled.

"Interesting name." Atlas said, biting down on his lip. The Doctor held back a laugh as he placed a helmet over the boys head. Stepping outside he could hear the muffled sounds of awe coming from the boy. Humans had colonized the planet and it was really cool to look at.

As they stepped inside the restaurant the boy was already asking a million questions. However when the Doctor reached up to lift his helmet off the boy tried to stop him. He laughed, pulling his own off and then the boy's off. The boy's hands flew up to his neck as if to check if he was still breathing.

"But how-" Atlas asked.

"Well you see, there's this force field like thing that surrounds the buildings and homes. It makes it so humans can breathe without having these damned suits on all of the time.

"I think I'm going to faint." Atlas said as a blue skinned woman with all sorts of inked markings across her face passed him on the way to the kitchen. The Doctor stood behind him with his arms out stretched just in case as he spoke.

"Now, now. They're more scared of you then you are of them." The Doctor said, directing him to one of the tables.

"That's what my mom says to my sister about dogs." Atlas said and the Doctor laughed, sitting down across from the boy. As one of the waitresses came by, Atlas stared at her with wide eyes. She had long green hair and her skin was a sun-like color, with a long red snake across her arm.

"Hello again, Doctor. Still running around with your little pink and yellow humans I see." She said.

"Still serving people I see." The Doctor laughed.

"Is his face stuck like that?" She asked.

"Don't mind him, it's his first planet." The Doctor said, patting Atlas' shoulder. The Doctor ordered for the both of them, and then when the food came they dug in. Atlas stuck the fork in his mouth and moaned, making the Doctor laughed.

"This is the best food I have ever tasted." Atlas whispered looking up at the Doctor. The Doctor watched him carefully, he was smiling back at him, but something about him tugged at the Doctor's heart.

"What is it?" Atlas asked, lifting his eyebrow. The Doctor sighed, leaning forward on the table to get closer to him. He watched the young man with serious eyes.

"So what's your story?" The Doctor asked in a very low tone.

"What?" Atlas asked, swallowing a gulp of food.

"You know the stuff that makes you who you are. Whose your best friend or why is your favorite color red?" The Doctor asked, moving his hands around in a circle.

"It's not, it's blue." Atlas said as if he had just told him that two plus two was seven, and the Doctor threw his head back in laughter.

"That's a start." The Doctor said.

"And to answer your other question, I don't really have a best friend." Atlas shrugged.

"What am I chop liver?" The Doctor mocked being offended.

"I just met you." Atlas said.

"Right, right." The Doctor nodded, placing a piece of food in his mouth.

"What about you?" Atlas asked.

"I'm your everyday time traveler." The Doctor shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure that's an oxymoron." Atlas said, laughing. The pair laughed, and then went silent as they ate their food. The Doctor kept trying to figure out what about this boy made the Doctor have difficulty taking his eyes off him. They finished their lunch and headed back out to the Tardis.


	2. Chapter 2

"So where to next?" The Doctor asked as he took off his helmet.

"Where do you want to go?" Atlas shrugged, taking off his helmet.

"Well I mean, I don't know." The Doctor shrugged.

He stopped to think for a moment, looking at the boy. Everyone he had ever brought along had always wanted to go somewhere whether it be to see their late father or their future. He could take Atlas anywhere, he could take him everywhere. The Doctor showed him a planet where the people could walk on water, and there was nothing better than the sight of Atlas as he skipped over the water.

The Doctor took him back to the Tardis as the boy got a phone call. After that, he was abnormally quiet. The Doctor sat in the Tardis waiting for the boy to say what was bothering him but eventually he got tired of waiting. He stood up and started to flick in coordinates.

"Where are we going?" Atlas asked, hopping up.

"You're going home." The Doctor said.

"No, please. Can't I stay?" Atlas asked, looking up at him.

"You clearly have someone who wants you home." The Doctor said, motioning to the phone that was in the boy's phone.

"But I want to be here." Atlas said, grabbing the Doctor's hand to pull him to look at him.

"Atlas-" The Doctor said, he should of thought twice about bringing a teenager on board. After all, they were just tall children who could drive. But the look in the boy's eyes made it hard to think like that for long.

"Please don't make me go back." Atlas whispered, looking down at his shoes, and that's when the Doctor realized it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was missing home.

The Doctor smiled, suddenly getting an idea. The Tardis went off again, and Atlas gripped the handlebars tight. When he opened the door again he was confused to be standing outside his house.

"Doctor, did I do something wrong?" Atlas whimpered turning to see the smile across the man's face fade.

"I'm not leaving." The Doctor said, patting his shoulder as he passed the boy to his front door. Hopping up onto the porch, he knocked loudly on the front door and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened but the Doctor didn't see anyone. He was about to turn to ask Atlas if he had the right address when a voice below him coughed. The Doctor looked down to see a little girl no older than four, with curly red hair that hung over her bright blue eyes leaning against the open door. The Doctor was about to introduce himself when the girl noticed Atlas behind him.

"Atlas!" The girl called running to meet him.

"Teyha!" Atlas laughed, picking the girl up in his arms. The Doctor smiled, as he watched the little girl grip him tightly like if she didn't he would disappear right there.

"You're home!" The girl cried into his ear.

"Tey, I was only gone for a couple of hours." Atlas whispered into the girl's ear, pulling the girl back from him a little bit so that he could see her face, and gaze into those bright blue eyes of hers.

"I know, but I missed you." The girl said sticking out her bottom lip. Atlas smiled, bringing his finger up to tap the lip that threatened him and the girl sucked in back in running her tongue across it.

"Let's go inside, it's freezing balls out here." Atlas said, carrying the girl up towards the house. The Doctor planned to wait patiently outside, but Atlas turned to him just before he closed the door.

"You coming?" Atlas asked.

"Why not?" The Doctor mumbled stepping into the small little house. He followed Atlas through the foyer towards the living room, and the Doctor took note of all the little things in the house.

There seemed to be a million pictures of Atlas and this small girl. The Doctor was amused to see a picture of a much younger Atlas with cake across his face and a small baby giggling like she was very guilty. There was all sorts of toys, and books, along with a couple drawings.

"Mommy, Atlas s'home." The little girl cried as Atlas sat down on the couch with her in his arms. The Doctor stood behind the couch, looking at everything while thinking of possible explanations for him being in Atlas' company. Normally with other companions they'd be much older and female so those excuses wouldn't do.

His thoughts were broken by the loud annoying beeping of something in the kitchen. The Doctor covered his ears, lifting his shoulders and scrunching his nose at the sound. Atlas laughed at him , clearly not bothered by the sound at all. There were the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and then a woman's voice called.

"Atlas, darling, will you take that out of the microwave?" A woman called. Atlas set the girl down, next to him on the couch and then got up and headed for the kitchen, which was behind the Doctor.

"Relax, she doesn't bite. Much." Atlas laughed as he passed the Doctor on his way towards the kitchen. The Doctor sighed, sitting down next to the young girl on the couch. It was uncomfortably quite for a few seconds before the girl turned to look at him with piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Um, Atlas." The Doctor called back towards the kitchen as the girl started to stare creepily at him.

The Doctor squirmed, hoping very much for this soon to be over, as the little girl started to move closer to him he flinched and fell off the couch. The little girl giggled, which the Doctor didn't find very funny so he ran towards the kitchen. Atlas was putting some kind of food into a large white bowl with his back turned from the Doctor as the woman's voice called again.

"Kids, dinner." The woman's voice said from the bottom of the stairs, the Doctor was suddenly uncomfortable with the amount of new faces so he stood over by the back door hoping to go unnoticed. Atlas held the bowl of what looked like rice and vegetables in his arms as he approached the table.

The woman moved about the kitchen, clearly oblivious to the Doctor, while the young girl sat down next to Atlas. The woman held her finger in the air flicking it as she counted off each child's head. She was surprised to see the Doctor smiling at her when she counted one more than usual.

"I'm sorry, I must seem so rude." The woman laughed, placing her hand over her mouth.

"It's quite alright." The Doctor smiled.

"This is the Doctor." Atlas said starting to serve plates.

"The Doctor?" The woman asked.

"It was a name that just stuck." The Doctor smirked lifting his shoulders up in a shrug like motion.

"The name's Mary." She said nodding her head slightly. No one really knew how the conversation should continue especially after the Doctor denied having dinner with them. He stood there oddly watching the small little family, listening to chit chat among the children.


End file.
